Tripoli: A beleaguered Muammar Gaddafi urged supporters on Sunday to “march by the millions” and quash a months-long uprising, as strong explosions rocked Tripoli amid fighting between rebels and regime supporters. The blasts were heard shortly after 4:00 am local time in the heart of the city as NATO warplanes flew overhead, an AFP journalist said. The targets were not immediately identifiable but witnesses reported clashes in several quarters between insurgents and Gaddafi supporters.
There was also sustained gunfire in the city. The strongman’s appeal came as rebels closed in on Tripoli and claimed his 42-year rule was on its last legs.
“We have to put an end to this masquerade. You must march by the millions to free the destroyed towns” controlled by rebels he labeled as “traitors” and “rats.”
“These scum enter mosques to cry ‘God is great.’ They are dirty. They are defiling the mosques,” Gaddafi said in an audio message carried on state television.
Earlier, a Tripoli resident said cries of “Allahu Akbar” could be heard from mosques in the city’s eastern sectors. Gaddafi accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country is helping lead NATO-coordinated air strikes on the strongman’s military assets, of recruiting the rebels as “agents” to steal Libya’s vast oil wealth.
“To win the upcoming elections, he wants to be able to say to his people: ‘Here, I’m offering you Libyan oil’ and this is going to be achieved with the help of traitors. “But the Libyan people will not allow France to take its oil or leave Libya to the hands of traitors,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muammar Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam said in a speech aired on Sunday that the regime would not “abandon the fight,” as rebels closed in on Tripoli and there was fighting and explosions in the city.
“We have a long breath. We are in our land and in our country. We will resist for six months, one year, two years … and we will win,” he said in the speech broadcast on state television, which said it was made a day earlier.
“We will not submit, we will not abandon the fight,” he said.
“This is not the decision of Seif al-Islam or Gaddafi but the decision of the Libyan people. He said the Gaddafi family “has paid the price, like all Libyans,” and urged rebels to launch talks, saying: “If you want peace, we are ready.”
Four strong explosions rocked the centre of Tripoli early on Sunday. Witnesses also reported clashes in several quarters between insurgents and Gaddafi supporters. (AFP)
